Deuteronomy 24:15

Verse 15. He is poor, and setteth his heart upon it] How exceedingly natural is this! The poor servant who seldom sees money, yet finds from his master's affluence that it procures all the conveniences and comforts of life, longs for the time when he shall receive his wages; should his pay be delayed after the time is expired, he may naturally be expected to cry unto God against him who withholds it. See most of these subjects treated at large on Ex 22:21-27.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. his day] Cp. Job_14:6, Mat_20:2.

setteth his heart] Lit. lifteth up his desire (nephesh). The Heb. term with its several meanings suggests how his life depends on his wage. Being poor he cannot be indifferent to it.

cry against thee, etc] Cp. Deu_24:13, Deu_15:9. And it be sin unto thee, see on Deu_15:9.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

At his day thou shalt give him his hire,.... At the close of the day, when his work is done, the hire agreed for must be paid him; and, by the same rule, all such that were hired by the week, month, or year, were to have their wages paid them at the day their time was up:

neither shall the sun go down upon it; it was to be paid before sun setting, or at it; see Lev 19:13,

for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it; being poor, he cannot wait any longer for the payment of it; his personal and family wants are such as require immediate payment; and besides, he has been eagerly expecting it, and earnestly desiring it, that he may satisfy the craving necessities of himself and family; and therefore it would be a great balk and disappointment to him to have his wages detained:

lest he cry against thee to the Lord; having none to apply unto but him, who is the patron of the poor and needy, not being able to help himself, nor having interest in any to interpose on his behalf; and his cry, and the cry of his hire too, enter into the ears of the Lord of hosts, and is regarded by him, Jam 5:4,

and it be sin unto thee: be imputed to him, the guilt charged on him, and punishment inflicted for it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Maintaineth: encourageth him. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "in it he placeth his hope." (Haydock) --- Day labourers are obliged to support themselves and families with their wages; (Menochius) so that if they agree to have them paid every day, it would be an injustice to detain them. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

At his day; at the time appointed, weekly or daily.

Neither shall the sun go down upon it, to wit, after the day upon which it is due, and desired or demanded by him; for justice must not be denied or delayed.

Setteth his heart upon it, Heb. lifteth up his soul to it, which notes his great desire and hope of it, and his dependence upon it: see Psa 24:4; Jer 22:27.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

At this day - At the time appointed, weekly or daily.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

ואליו הוא נשא את נפשו means, for the sake of this hire he exposes his life even unto death: he climbs up a steep staircase or hangs on to a high tree to do his work (Sifrei Devarim 279:3; Bava Metzia 112a).

והיה בך חטא [LEST HE CALL AGAINST THEE UNTO THE LORD,] AND IT BE SIN UNTO THEE — under any circumstances, even if he does not call against thee to the Lord, but greater haste is made to punish thee because of him who cries (Sifrei Devarim 279:4; cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 15:9).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

IN THE SAME DAY THOU SHALT GIVE HIM HIS HIRE, NEITHER SHALT THE SUN GO DOWN UPON IT. The meaning thereof by way of the plain sense of Scripture is that this explains what is stated in the Torah, the wages of a hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning, for it is the manner of verses to speak of the common occurrence, and the custom is to hire a laborer for one day and for him to leave toward evening before sunset. And so Scripture commands [the employer] to pay him during his day as soon as he finishes his work, and that the sun should not set upon him [before he is paid], in order that he should be able to purchase with his wages what he, his wife, and his children, need to eat at night, for he is poor as are most of those who hire themselves out for the day, he has staked his life upon this wage to buy with it food to sustain his life. Thus he teaches us here that the intent of what He said in the Torah, the wages of a hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning is that you pay him during his day, for if you do not pay him when he leaves his work, he will go home and his wage will be left with you until morning and he may die of hunger at night. In a similar way is the verse, for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin; wherein shall he sleep? It states the reason for the commandment in most of these prohibitions. And our Rabbis have explained that the verse [the wages of a hired servant shall not abide with thee all night] until the morning applies to a day-worker [who departs from work at sundown; the time for paying him his wages is the entire night, and this law is not violated before daybreak]. Then he reverted to explain here the law of a man who is hired for night-work [whose departure from work is at daybreak and the time for paying his wages is the whole day and the law is not violated until sundown]. Thus for each one, there is a twelve hour deadline for payment. This is the truth as received by tradition and is appropriate with correct interpretation.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.